NY School Closures Extend into MID-APRIL as Virus Outbreak Worsens

(FamilyRetirementClub.Com)- New York is hurting badly from the coronavirus outbreak, and Governor Andrew Cuomo was forced to announce on Friday that school closures will be extended to April 15.

“When you look at the number of cases that’s still increasing, it only makes sense to keep the schools closed,” the Democratic governor told reporters during a daily press conference in Albany.

Cuomo also used the opportunity to update the public about the latest infection figures, confirming a further 7,377 cases overnight. That means New York, as of Friday, had some 44,635 cases of coronavirus. Of those, 25,300 came from New York City, where people are staying at home in a frantic attempt to reduce the spread of the virus in one of the most densely populated regions of the country. 134 people have already died from the virus in New York City. 519 people have died across New York state.

“We want to see the rate slowing and then we want to see the number of cases going down or flattening,” Cuomo said. However, that didn’t stop the governor from urging hospitals in New York to double their capacity of hospital beds to reach at least 100,000.

Governor Cuomo and his scientific advisors believe that the virus could spread increasingly quickly in coming days and weeks, potentially putting hospitals under so much strain that lives that could have been saved will be lost.

Measures to increase hospital beds in New York City have already begun. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has already prepared temporary hospitals in the Javits Convention Center. The United States Navy is also preparing to dock a hospital ship in the city next week.

Cuomo took to Twitter to thank the people of his state for supporting their efforts to treat patients and reduce. The spread of the virus.

New Yorkers never cease to amaze me. The outpouring of support is extraordinary.

62K medical staff have answered our call to help.

Over 10K mental healthcare workers have answered our call to help.

When someone needs something, there’s no place I’d rather be than New York.